Shimano warranty not worth Sh!t

[skronkman]

A few years ago I had a real with a shimano 5 year warranty on it that the bail arm Spring broke on (within warranty period). I rang shimano warranty department and was asked when it was serviced last, my reply being "never". Due to the fact I hadnt performed the correct maintenance and servicing I was told I wasn't covered under warranty but could be sold the part to repair it for about $3 plus postage (another $12 odd). I went ahead with it and made a mental note to be sure to always maintain my reals properly and service them regularly in future.

Now I have a less than 12 month old Stradic FK 2500 that came with a 10 year warranty, it cost me $280. Assuming I had purchased a quality piece of kit, with a whopping 10 year warranty they must really stand behind this reel I thought. Well, I thought wrong.

The reel is used weekly, cleaned with fresh water and a light coat of inox after use. The reel suddenly started making a rough noise on the retrieve last session so I figured it was a good time to service it. Upon opening up the reel, luring it all up after a clean out i discovered the line roller bearing was corroded and the shiny stuff was delaminating. A few attempts to clean it and grease it didn't help, it was knackered and running rough causing the noise I mentioned on retrieving line. Another call to the shimano warranty department and this time I knew I had done everything right so it shouldn't be an issue. How wrong could I be!

On the phone to the service/warranty department I detailed the issue and told them I had serviced the reel in an attempt to rectify the issue but the line roller bearing is troubled by corrosion and needs replacing under warranty as it has a 10 year warranty and I've owned the reel for less than a year (with receipt from BFC). "No no no" I was told in response! Due to the fact I had opened up the reel to service and lube it I had violated the warranty (only service option is to send it to their service department and pay the shipping and service fees) and even then, bearings are considered wear parts and not covered at all under warranty, period. My only option was to send the reel in for them to repairs at my cost, pay for the part and also pay them a service fee and return shipping! The example he offered was that when you buy a new car the tyres are wear parts and not covered by warranty (I told him that my car was full of bearings and all of them were covered by the warranty, if my reel had tyres I wouldn't expect them To be covered). To no avail of course.

I happily relayed that I would be writing up the conversation I had with him and telling the other fishos I know not to expect anything from the warranty. Do not expect anything from Shimano if you have a warranty claim, it isn't worth the paper it's written on. I probably have a statutory warranty claim under the law as it's obviously a poor quality part that isn't fit for purpose (or aligned with the price of the reel), not to mention that the 10 year warranty probably adds up to nothing less than false advertising. However, I can't be bothered heading down that path, for now I will simply never buy shimano gear again and go out of my way to tell anyone I know to avoid them. I know they are hard to avoid when shopping for fishing gear but I'll be making the effort from now.

Apologies for the long post. I'm angry. I feel like I've been lied to and cheated and I hope this post informs others of what to expect from Shimano's totally useless warranty. There are reputable competitive brands out there that will now be getting my business and I hope anyone reading this takes it into consideration before handing over another cent to this devious company.

[Bayrock]

Bad news.
I hear the new Okuma reels are pretty good, time to move on to one of their competitors if they treat their customers like that.
Mention this on social media and tag them on your posts.

[4liters]

What a crock of ****. Call them up again and mention your rights under Australian consumer law. That might spook them into doing the right thing

[drew 2]

Mate you have every right to be p!55ed off after 2 experiences like that.

Can you do anything through BCF maybe. If it is less than 12 months old they might show some goodwill on it. Shimano obviously won't.

[fitzy90]

Under Australian consumer laws you can take it back to BCF as it would be deemed "not fit for purpose"
They will try to tell you its a manufacture issue and try to get you to deal with the supplier however its not under Australian consumer laws and they have the obligation to fix the issue.

Have a read up on the following link and if BCF kick up a stink show them this, otherwise you can lodge a complaint directly through the australian consumer law web page and they will sort it out for you

http://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consum ... ace-refund
https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consu ... guarantees



good luck.

[purple5ive]

what in the right mind made you think servicing the reel youself was going to fly with shimano and their warranty claim?
thats like saying you serviced your brand new car yourself and then took it in for a claim on warranty.

once you open the reel yourself, kiss the warranty goodbye.

and yeah the line roller bearing is one of the most damaged items. easier to replace yourself than go through warranty.

for a reel service you need to send it in to shimano/daiwa/ or whoever the manufaturer is, its usually around 40 bucks plus shipping both ways .
sometimes its cheaper to buy a new reel.

next time you get a noise like that, wind the reel handle with no line going through the roller bearing (aka store the line in the line keeper on the spool and have a wind just likeyou would in the shops) if the noise is still there, then its internal, if the noise stops its usually a line roller bearing.

and yeah warranty on a spinning reel is just that. its only worth it if the internals are buggered with no fault of yours ofcourse. and you still have to pay for shipping anyway.

[purple5ive]

Under Australian consumer laws you can take it back to BCF as it would be deemed "not fit for purpose"
They will try to tell you its a manufacture issue and try to get you to deal with the supplier however its not under Australian consumer laws and they have the obligation to fix the issue.

Have a read up on the following link and if BCF kick up a stink show them this, otherwise you can lodge a complaint directly through the australian consumer law web page and they will sort it out for you

http://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consum ... ace-refund
https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consu ... guarantees



good luck.

he serviced the reel himself, so kiss everything goodbye.
Thats if they can prove it ofcourse, but one look at the insides or on the screw mounts/heads and they can usually tell if its been opened up

[frozenpod]

Corrosion has never been covered by warranty.

Just get the replacement part fixed it and enjoy the reel.

[skronkman]

My point being that if you don't service it they claim it wasn't looked after, if you do service it then you void the warranty. Having to send it to the manufacturer for servicing is a joke, it would cost more for a service than the price of a new reel for many of their lower end stuff. The warranty issues has nothing to do with my servicing and everything to do with being manufactured to a less than fit standard for its purpose and price. I have done my servicing for years and don't see why they tell you that servicing is required for warranty purposes and also provide an exploded diagram in the box if you are not meant to perform one.

The reel is less than 12 months old, it is priced nearly 10 times the price of their entry level Sienna and the quality, warranty and after sales support should reflect this.

My own personal case aside, if corrosion is not covered, bearings are not covered, servicing the real yourself voids warranty, sending it in for a service costs more than the price of middle of the road reel, then I maintain my argument that the shimano warranty is worthless.

Servicing is not rocket science and once not so long ago servicing your reel or your car was something you were supposed to do yourself and the instructions on doing it came with the product. Repairs are a shop job, servicing is maintenance and should be able to be performed by the lay man (and is except for the rules designed so as to void warranties).

For each and everyone to decide for themselves what they do with the information I've provided here. I for one will not be purchasing shimano again after my experiences in dealing with them.

[skronkman]

Corrosion has never been covered by warranty.

Just get the replacement part fixed it and enjoy the reel.

This is the plan, I'll be spending the $25 including postage to make my reel usable again. It's the principle of it that I'm angry about, not the cost.

Will I need to spend this money again in 12 months to maintain a shoddy part on an expensive reel? Who knows? Seeing as I can't service it to maintain it without voiding warranty then I can only suppose that more components of the reel will fail before then.